The double-decker Christmas Carousel at Greeley Square is officially in its last stretch, with fewer than two weeks left to ride before it packs up for the season. Located at 33rd Street and Broadway, just steps from Herald Square and Macy's holiday chaos, the festive ride is one of those unique winter attractions that feels delightfully out of scale with everyday city life.
The caught-on-video arson attack was one of the city's most shocking and disturbing subway slaughters - made all the more horrific by the number of straphangers who failed to come to Kawam's aid. Surveillance and mobile phone footage show the killer watching Kawam burn, then sitting casually on a subway bench as first responders arrived at the scene.
Over a dozen teenagers gathered in the fenced-off courtyard of Harlem's Peace Cafe on a Thursday evening after school. As the young men warmed up with jumping jacks and sit-ups, Josh Marte, their youth mentor, hung up the punching bag and laid out Everlast boxing gloves over a banner that read, "I AM PEACE." The lesson wasn't only about self-defense: Marte talked to the group about regulating emotions, building a brotherhood, and de-escalating violence in their neighborhood.
The segment, which has been reviewed by The Verge, is a little shy of 14 minutes long. It features video of men, chained and bent double, being "paraded in front of cameras, pushed onto buses, and delivered to CECOT," according to the segment's narration. One former detainee, who CBS met in Colombia, said he was told he was "the living dead" at CECOT.
A subway conductor was beaten and robbed of her train keys while on the job in Brooklyn, cops announced on Monday. The victim, a 31-year-old woman, was leaning out of a train car on the southbound A and C trains platform at the Hoyt St.-Schermerhorn St. station in Downtown Brooklyn when the thief attacked around 2:47 p.m. Sunday, cops said. The crook punched the victim, took her train keys and then fled the station, said police.
By packing the Rent Guidelines Board with members of his choosing, Mayor Eric Adams has made his move to derail Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's campaign promise to freeze rents for the city's 1 million rent stabilized households. With few exceptions, the Board's five public members generally control the outcome of the annual guideline setting process. One public member, Alex Armlovich, will serve out a term lasting through 2026.
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On May 28, 2024, Lenore Elfand, the owner of Empire Cannabis Club, an unlicensed dispensary in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, received a frantic call from an employee. NYPD officers and deputies from the city's Sheriff's Office were lined up at the door, poised to raid the shop. Elfand said in an affidavit that when her security guard insisted on filming, officers placed him in handcuffs, killed the security cameras, and stormed in.
A Bronx murder suspect died of an apparent allergic reaction suffered while incarcerated on Rikers Island Sunday afternoon making him the 15th inmate of the troubled detention center to perish this year. Kyron Randall, 33, became ill at about 12:10 p.m. on Dec. 21 while in custody at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. According to the Correction Department, Randall allegedly suffered what is believed to be an allergic reaction.
An astonishing number of national chains, 18, shuttered all of their shops in the five boroughs. The total number of chain stores across the five boroughs fell for the sixth time in the past eight years-declining 1.3 percent citywide, or a net loss of 112 stores since last year, according to the Center for an Urban Future's annual State of the Chains 2025 report on December 17.
The MTA is modifying service on the city's subways, buses, and commuter rails for Christmas and New Year's. The subways and buses will both follow a Sunday schedule on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, this Thursday and next, according to the transit agency. On the day of Christmas Eve, Wednesday, the subways will run regular weekday service. Bus routes across Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens will operate on reduced weekday schedules on both the days of Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
The emotional parents of a Queens man who was shot and killed in front of them by police officers early on Sunday morning challenged the NYPD's narrative of the deadly encounter on Monday. Kevin Fray and Sheanette Dunbar, the parents of Chez Fray, joined civil rights leader Rev. Kevin McCall outside of the 101st Precinct stationhouse in Far Rockaway on the afternoon of Dec. 22. Dunbar clung to McCall and howled in pain, Fray gritted his teeth and sobbed uncontrollably.
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) voted overwhelmingly on Monday to authorize a strike for 20,000 nurses in NYC a move made just two weeks before their contract expires. The nurses, all from private hospitals throughout the five boroughs, cited staffing issues, safety concerns, fair wages and other reasons for considering a strike. The union's vote on Dec. 22 now gives its bargaining committees the authority to call a strike if a contract that protects safe patient care is not settled by the end of the year.
There will be a little wintry intrigue early this week, though. A fast-moving clipper system is expected to slide through tonight into Tuesday, bringing a brief burst of snow across parts of the state. Upstate and higher-elevation regions could see some accumulation, especially east of Lake Ontario, in the Tug Hill Plateau and the Adirondacks, where several inches are possible.
According to law enforcement sources, the 40-year-old victim was on a southbound R train at around 2 a.m. on Dec. 20 when the attack occurred. Police said the victim and suspect started arguing on the train when the situation escalated to violence. After an exchange of words, the suspect whipped out a knife and stabbed the victim multiple times in the torso and left leg.
The outgoing New York City Council used its last meeting of the 2024-2025 session on Thursday to pass landmark legislation expanding permitting and agency support for street vendors, affordable housing policy and worker protection laws. When you think about issues that affect working-class New Yorkers, this is a day to be proud of, said new Council Member Harvey Epstein. We're talking about worker protections, opportunities for more affordable housingThese are real ways to manage the affordability crisis, keep people in their homes
The projects - costing a combined $1.75 billion - are among the first round to be funded by revenue raised from congestion pricing, which was first implemented nearly a year ago. The state program raises funds for the MTA by charging drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street a $9 base toll.
"We strongly support efforts to provide New Yorkers with world-class public transit," they wrote. "This bill does the opposite by raising MTA operating costs and constraining the MTA's ability to implement modern operating methods, adopt new technologies, and provide better service for riders."
One good way to help out this season is to partner with United Way of NYC, an organization with over 87 years of dedicated service. The nonprofit focuses on creating sustainable growth by addressing critical issues such as health, education and food security. Volunteers can help out by donating supplies like hygiene kits, school supplies, making financial donations or donating their time at one of the group's many toy drives.
The FDNY took on a five-alarm fire that tore through a Bronx building on Thursday night. At around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, FDNY units responded to a call regarding a five-alarm fire at 855 Prospect Ave., which is located in a row of commercial buildings. The fire had started to extend to the nearby buildings. Units arrived in less than four minutes.
The New York City Council, in a marathon end-of-year meeting that lasted late into the night on December 18, passed the Aland Etienne Safety and Security Act, phasing in new minimum pay and benefits standards for this industry in New York City. The legislation, which still must be signed into law by the mayor, was sponsored by Speaker Adrienne Adams and dozens of co-sponsors, and heavily supported by 32BJ SEIU which represents 20,000 security guards
Authorities said the violence stemmed from a fight between both 12-year-olds just before 3 p.m. inside Betsy Head Park, near Thomas S. Boyland Street and Dumont Avenue in Brownsville. NYPD officers arrived to find the victim with a stab wound to his chest, and first responders took him to Brooklyn University Medical Center in critical but stable condition, according to officials.
For many of us, it's white tablecloths, servers in button-down shirts and aprons, big honkin' cuts of USDA prime beef alongside sides of glistening roasted potatoes, creamed spinach, and wedge salads covered in blue cheese dressing. However, not all steakhouses are created equal, and that's what makes this city and La Tete d'Or so darn special. Opened in November of 2024, La Tete d'Or is the brainchild of Daniel Boulud, a world-renowned French chef who has made New York City his home.
I really want New Yorkers to use my journey as a symbol, Adams said, describing his decision to return to the precinct. Even in the darkest moments of your life, it's about how you turn pain into purpose. Adams recalled that the incident at the 103rd Precinct pushed him toward activism and eventually a career in law enforcement, rather than bitterness. Sometimes we don't realize the darkest moments of your life are not a burial, but it's a planting, he said.
If you've spent any time on TikTok, YouTube, or listening to comedy podcasts while avoiding emails, you've probably encountered Hannah Berner. The Brooklyn born comedian, podcaster, and former tennis player has become the internet's reigning queen of relatable chaos. Her humor is sharp, her delivery is unbothered, and her ability to tell the truth in the most entertaining way possible is the exact energy New York requires.
Using parody lyrics, lots of Yuletide spirit and, of course, plenty of egg nog, these flamboyant flâneurs make a serious point about New York's sclerotic roadways: they don't have to be dangerous places for kids and lungs, but can be joyous spaces for people to walk around, shop, eat or just ... flâneur. So enjoy some of that seasonal spunk that the carolers spread all over 34th Avenue in Queens last week by singing along to these songs:
Following Thursday's proceedings, which lasted about 15 minutes, defense attorney Karen Agnifilo told reporters that her team had originally intended to question NYPD Det. Oscar Diaz, but the prosecution decided not to put him on the stand on short notice. The decision came after a rocky afternoon of testimony on Tuesday in which the prosecution abruptly decided to withdraw statements that Mangione made to NYPD investigators under interrogation shortly after his Dec. 9, 2024 arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania.